OREANDA-NEWS. General Dynamics Land Systems has been awarded a USD 99.7 million follow-on contract for the procurement and production of Saudi M1A2 (M1A2S) Abrams tanks for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This modification is part of an existing contract to upgrade the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's fleet of tanks.

The Foreign Military Sales contract was awarded by the U.S. Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command on behalf of the Royal Saudi Land Forces.

This contract extends work started in 2008 to update M1A1 and M1A2 tanks to the M1A2S configuration. The M1A2S conversion increases the efficiency and capability of the tank.

The work will be performed by current employees at the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center in Lima, Ohio, with an estimated completion date of July 2016.